


Darkness as a Part of Us

by Tarlan



Series: Darkness as a Part of Us [1]
Category: Darklight (2004)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Horror, M/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-18
Updated: 2010-06-18
Packaged: 2017-10-15 07:32:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/158514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>According to scripture, only the first and last demon can stop the coming apocalypse. The problem is that Lilith slayed the last demon, Anders Raeborne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darkness as a Part of Us

**Author's Note:**

> For Smallfandomfest FEST07

There were many myths about Lilith. She was the first demon, cast out of Paradise after refusing to bow down and serve Adam. She was hunted and reviled until she became a monster, with tales of her tearing into the flesh of the innocent, of bathing in the blood of newborns, of siring many more demons. Supposedly, Hell was filled with her spawn, borne from her womb or, more likely, from the darklight running through her veins.

Anders Raeborne was her spawn, infusing himself with her tainted essence as an act of taking revenge upon the people who vilified his research on one hand while profiting at his expense on the other. Hypocrites who had fallen to his wrath and, perhaps, if that had been all then he would have been treated like any other psychotic killer. Instead he had become a demonicos, carrying a deadly plague that was written in the ancient texts as one of the first signs of the coming Apocalypse. Those same scriptures offered only one hope for mankind stopping the runaway train that would lead to the end of all life on Earth--Lilith and her last born. Two demons--the first and the last--brought back to the light in order to save mankind, and to earn their salvation.

Lilith had slain Raeborne, infusing a drain cover with darklight and using it to cut Raeborne's head from his body while he was in the form of the demonicos. The vaccine for the Red Plague lay in the creature's brain and The Faith scientists had quickly synthesized the vaccine to prevent the plague spreading further. As for those already infected, a cure had already been produced by the same man who had set the terrible events in motion--Faith Director Chapel--the man who had betrayed all of mankind. Chapel was dead but the problem remained that the first demon, Lilith, had slain her last born, Anders Raeborne.

"Perhaps Raeborne was not the only one who used the darklight. Perhaps he was not the last." Brother Thomas looked beseechingly at their leader. "Perhaps we need to copy Raeborne's research and create a new demonicos or...or persuade Lilith to bear a new demon life."

"No." The Prefect held up a hand to forestall any more suggestions. "The scriptures ordained that the last would be borne out of injustice and revenge, and it would unleash a terrible plague that would claim the children of Adam and open the gates to Hell. We are coming to the End of Days. It is written that only the first and the last can close the gates for another two thousand years." He looked around the conference table. "Even as we speak, more demons are rising from Hell." He sighed. "I am certain that Anders Raeborne was the last."

"Then there is no hope for mankind. Judgment Day is upon us," Thomas stated.

Shaw frowned. "In the scriptures, it states that demons cannot die."

"Go on."

"If they cannot die then Anders Raeborne is still alive." The Prefect nodded, indicating for Shaw to continue. "The gates of Hell were opened to send him into the pit. Perhaps the only way for them to close... is behind him when he is brought back."

"Yes. Bought back into the light to battle against the forces of evil," the Prefect added softly.

Shaw sat taller. "How do we call him back from Hell?" he asked, ignoring the shocked look on the faces of the others around the table as he focused solely on the Prefect.

"A ritual." The Prefect held up his hand once more. "But there are consequences. He will be bound to whoever calls him...and they will be bound to him for all eternity."

Shaw watched as the Prefect looked around the whole table, stopping momentarily on each person present and seeing each one cast their eyes aside until the Prefect reached him. "William?"

Shaw stared hard, aware that he already held a great responsibility for being Lilith's human partner in the fight against evil. Perhaps the very fact that he would be working close to Lilith made him the best choice. But could he take on yet another demon, especially when he understood what it would mean to be bound to Raeborne? Yet at least it would be his choice whereas Raeborne had none if he wished to escape from Hell. Raeborne had forfeited more than his soul when he perfected the means of infusing himself with Lilith's darklight, making him the last of her demon spawn. Shaw sighed, aware of the darkness within his own soul from the loss of his only son to Lilith's madness. The first and the last...and him, working as a team to save mankind. Drawing in a deep breath, Shaw let it out slowly and nodded, realizing that he still had what Chapel had lost--Faith.

"I'll do it."

"Then it is decided. Come, William. We have much work ahead of us."

Shaw followed the Prefect from the conference room, silently hoping that he had not made a terrible mistake in taking on two demons. Two hours later he knew every part of the ritual off by heart but he was surprised when instead of the Prefect, Lilith joined him just outside a room set deep beneath The Faith's headquarters. He gave her an inquiring look.

"We're in this together." Her tone brooked no argument from him but then she smiled mischievously. "Anyway, he's my baby apparently, so my responsibility too."

Shaw sighed and resigned himself to her presence during the ritual but he had to admit that he felt a little safer having her around just in case he screwed up and more than one demon came at the summons. It was highly unlikely but still a risk he had to consider. Over his shoulder he carried a bag containing everything he required for the summoning but he withdrew the first item--a black candle--and lit it before stepping into the room. The candle light pushed the shadows closer to the edges of the room, leaving the corners in complete darkness. Shaw moved to the center and knelt down, placing the candle to his left side. Lilith sank down at right angles to his position, facing him, with the candle between them and she quietly watched as he removed the other objects from the bag and laid them out with total reverence.

He would have to call upon the darkness within him for this ritual, and Lilith was mildly amused by this.

Shaw started with a pentagram on the floor and worked anti-clockwise, filling in the sigils that had held meaning from the dawn of time. Beside him, Lilith whispered the name of each demon lord. According to the Prefect, every demon had its own signature, a sigil, and even though the demonicos that was Anders Raeborne was barely a week old, the sigil for the last demon was foretold in the ancient scripts. If they were wrong and Raeborne was not the last demon then there was a chance that no creature would answer the summons and The Faith would be forced to wait for a new sign. The problem would be telling this sign apart from all the others appearing around the world as new demons spewed out of Hell with each passing hour.

No. They had to go by faith. They had to believe that it was Anders Raeborne.

Shaw chanted softly in Akkadian--a long extinct language of Ancient Mesopotamia--as he set out the necessary items; lighting three more black candles at each corner, burning incense, and pouring a dark wine over the sharp blade of a small ceremonial knife. The spilled wine collected in the bottom of a lead bowl engraved with demonic sigils. Shaw paused and glanced at Lilith, seeing her eyes glitter dangerously as darklight ebbed within her body, before continuing. He drew the blade lightly across the palm of his left hand and let the blood drip into the bowl and mix with the wine. The chant continued as he drew the final sigil in the center of the pentagram using his blood as the paint--the sign that would summon the last demon.

At first there was nothing but then Shaw felt a presence that made the hair stand up along the nape of his neck. Movement in the deepest black of the corner opposite drew his attention and he tensed as a shape, shrouded in darkness, slowly coalesced and stepped towards the light thrown out by the candles. Shaw sighed in relief when he recognized Anders Raeborne.

In the candlelight the light brown hair glowed in streaks of copper and gold, the haunted blue eyes shone like brilliant sapphires, and his mouth dipped low on one side in remorse or anger. Raeborne stood naked before Shaw with his skin almost as white as alabaster, like a ghost, except for on his left forearm where five Marks of Daggoth--symbols of how he had been cursed--stood in livid contrast upon his pale flesh. Raeborne frowned, looking confused as his eyes darted around the darkened room...yet always returning to Lilith, and to him.

"Where am I?"

"Back on Earth," Shaw stated.

"Why?"

"Because we need you."

Raeborne barked out a short, self-deprecating laugh. "She's the one that killed me."

"I know."

Raeborne gasped, head thrown back and his form faded a little and Shaw knew that Hell was not going to let go of him willingly, not when he could be the one who prevented the coming Apocalypse. Lilith came to her feet, crouching low, and her darklight infused her, turning her into her demonic form.

Shaw stood up quickly, bringing the lead bowl with him. "You've got a choice, Raeborne, and you need to make it quick. Be bound to me on Earth...or go back to Hell."

Raeborne straightened, his burning sapphire eyes suddenly dulling, looking ancient, as if he had seen and had suffered too much. But then he had spent the past three days in Hell; three days that could have felt like an eternity.

"Please don't send me back," he whispered, and Shaw saw beyond the pettiness of a man who had wanted revenge for what he had seen as injustices against him. Instead he saw a man who had spent time in Hell paying for crimes that paled into insignificance against those committed by Lilith during the long millennia. If she could deserve a second chance to redeem herself in the eyes of God and Mankind, then surely Raeborne deserved a chance too.

Raeborne cried out again and Shaw watched as invisible claws scored his flesh as something tried to drag him back into the pit. Lilith sprang forward and knocked the invisible force away with her talons. Quickly, Shaw dipped his fingers in the blood and anointed his own forehead, chanting the final verses that would bind their souls together as he approached Raeborne. He paused, giving Raeborne one last chance to say no but Raeborne didn't flinch as Shaw reached out to anoint him too, accepting the conditions of his parole from Hell. As the blood touched Raeborne's flesh it glowed brightly and Raeborne screamed as the stench of burning flesh filled the air. He collapsed to the floor, sobbing quietly. When he finally looked up, the mark was like a fiery brand upon his flesh but it faded quickly, leaving no visible trace.

Screeches and screams rent the air, stopping suddenly as if a door had slammed closed. Shaw like the analogy, hoping it was the truth and that they had been right in hoping that Raeborne held the key to closing the door to Hell. All that remained now was to seek out and destroy those demons that had escaped before the door closed. Shaw looked back down at Raeborne.

It was done.

They were bound to each other in every sense of the word; tethered by the blood that would allow nothing to come between them. Shaw knew it was as much a sacrifice for him as for Raeborne, aware that he had forfeited any chance of having another family to replace the one that Lilith destroyed all those years ago when she murdered his son. Yet, as he knelt down in front of Raeborne he felt something shift inside him; felt something start to fill the emptiness. He reached out and laid a hand on Raeborne's shoulder and felt warmth flood into those cold and dark places in his soul.

Only time would tell if he had sacrificed everything for nothing. But as he gazed deep into Raeborne's blue eyes, he found purpose again and realized that maybe it was not only Raeborne that was getting a second chance at redemption.

END


End file.
